St. Justin

Born: c.100

Died: 165

Canonized: pre-Congregation

Feast Day: June 1

Patron Saint of: apologists, lecturers, philosophers

Justin is credited to be the very first Christian philosopher. He was born
into a pagan Greek family in Palestine and studied the great philosophers. Upon
learning of and accepting as his own the Christian faith, he turned his skills
and energies toward the philosophy of Christianity, debating that faith was
compatible with rational thought. Justin never shied away from a public debate,
despite the fact that Christians were being actively pursues and persecuted. His
first public debate was before the Emperor Antoninus Pius, the second was
addressed to the Roman Senate. In AD 165, he was arrested and martyred by
beheading along with six other Christians who refused to make sacrifice to
idols. Two of his extant works are still used today: Dialogue with the Jew
Typho and Apologies for the Christian Religion.